Stuart’s Spaulding hits milestone
PRINCETON » Jalynn Spaulding wanted to score her 1,000 point, but was more concerned about making sure her team got another win.
No worries for Spaulding, who entered Wednesday’s game with Princeton Day School, needing just seven points to reach the milestone.
The 12.8-point-per-game scoring senior guard got it done in the first quarter as the Tartans roared to a 22-point lead.
Spaulding and Co. went on to score the game’s first 26 points before the Panthers evened out play to the point where they outscored the home team the rest of the way.
In a 60-35 Stuart win, that may not seem like much, but to Spaulding, consistency is a big part of the game.
“I think it’s important,” Spaulding said of her 1,000 point, “but I was more focused on my team winning. When we get a lead like that, we have to keep it up, keep after it and not get lazy.”
No one will ever accuse Spaulding of that. Since joining the Tartans after a year at Lawrence High, this 5-foot-11 shooting guard has pushed herself and her teammates to be better.
So when she hit a layup with 2:10 left in the first quarter to reach the milestone and put her team up, 21-0, all seemed fine for the home team.
“I wasn’t worried about it,” said Spaulding, who is as of yet uncommitted to a college. “I just wanted to try not to be selfish.”
On coach Justin Leith’s team, that’s not a problem since 5-11 junior forward Bey-Shana Clark scores just as consistently as Spaulding. In fact, Spaulding finished the game with 15 points, giving her 1,008 for her career. But Clark led all scorers in the game with 16 points, putting her 52 away from joining Spaulding in the 1,000-point club.
“We just didn’t have a good first quarter,” PDS senior guard Bridget Kane said. “In the second quarter, we made it back into the game because we worked on our team chemistry more.”
From the time, Kate Bennett scored the Panthers’ first basket with 5:25 left in the second quarter, the game took a turn. Coach Kamau Bailey’s squad trimmed the lead to 17 points before Stuart freshman Nia Melvin hit a 17foot jumper to help the home team maintain a 31-13 lead at the break.
Kane, who scored 10 of her team’s points in the second quarter and went on to finish with 15, got help from her classmate, Madison Coyne, in the second half when Coyne scored all 12 of her points.
“I don’t know if I’m close to 1,000,” said Kane, who has an outside chance at hitting the magic mark before pursuing lacrosse in college. “I’m just out for my team. I want to help us get better. I just worry about the next play to make sure we’re moving on.”
It’s that same drive which got Spaulding to 1,000 points and will keep her team winning as long as she has a say in the outcome.